Biocon's adjusted Q4 net profit up; company issues bonus shares

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon is "cautiously optimistic" about FY18 and continues to stand by the guidance the company has given on its hopes to be a billion dollars in revenue in FY19. Sharing the financial results for the fourth quarter and for the full year FY17 over a conference call on Friday, Shaw says the cautious optimism for FY18 is linked to some of the uncertainties around chances of any delays in getting approvals in the emerging markets for sales from the new Malaysian facility of the company.

That apart, there are certain unknowns surrounding the GST (Goods and Services Tax) roll out in India such as the levels that would be applicable and how it would be rolled out as far as pharma sector is concerned.  

Biocon has reported a net profit of Rs 127 crore for Q4FY17 showing a decline as compared to the corresponding period of previous year. This, she says, is  "because the net profit in the year-ago quarter was boosted by an exceptional item of Rs 256 crore. This was on account of a deferred revenue recognition pertaining to partnering of our rh-insulin development program."

Adjusting for exceptional items in Q4FY16, she says, "our net profit for the Q4FY17at Rs 135 crore, represents a growth of 75 per cent, against Rs 77 crore net profit before exceptional item in Q4FY16". She underlined the fact that the company's financial results were based on the new Indian Accounting Standards, referred to as IND-AS.

As for revenues, she says for Q4FY17, it was Rs 974 crore as against Rs 973 crore in Q4FY16. The EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 231 crore as against Rs 221 crore in the previous year. The board of directors of the company, she said, have recommended the issue of 2 bonus shares for every 1 share held in Biocon. Also, the board had recommended a final dividend of Rs 3 per share for FY17 (pre bonus).